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MAC’s Well-Dressed Blush Works Well on Fair Skin

Now that the days are getting shorter, there’s less time for me to try and get a feeble excuse for a natural tan, which means I’m starting to revert back into what I call my “winter ghost mode”. I’m actually pretty pale all year long, even during the summer, so as a fair-skinned ginger with light eyes, it’s really difficult for me to find blushes, from any company, that don’t clash with my natural coloring. Everything comes out either too ruddy, muddy, or fake looking – I’ve almost been inclined a few times to just abandon the concept of wearing blush. Enter in MAC’s Well-Dressed Satin Blush.

I have to say, this is one of my very favorite blushes. I also have to say, for a long time I was just in love with the “idea” of this blush, as it doesn’t look too bright nor too opaque. Usually blush shows up way too vibrantly on my skin so I have to use a really light hand when applying it. Tired of all the extra work going into my makeup routine because of this, I decided to visit the MAC counter for a retail therapy session. Well Dressed caught my eye immediately upon visiting the blush station. It’s absolutely gorgeous in the pan, and made me instantly think “Wow, that’s so pretty, I need it.” I wasn’t sure what the color trade-off would be on my fair skin, but I figured it was worth a shot to test it out.

Upon applying a swatch to my wrist (this is the most true to color part of your body as it shows your skin’s undertones), and after using it for almost a year, I noticed a few (mostly fabulous) things that I hadn’t seen with any of my previous blushes:

It behaves more like a sheer tone frost, meaning one layer shows on your skintone right away yet is shimmery in a glowing way. However, if you put on more layers it becomes quite frosty.

The texture is thicker than other MAC blushes – more than a layer and the frost highlights large pores, wrinkles, and uneven skin. I adore the color and because of the texture you don’t need to apply much, but I’m not in love with the idea of having to carefully monitor how much product I use.

This is by far the most densely-packed blush I’ve ever come across, which can be somewhat irritating because I dislike having to rub my blush brush vigourously over the surface to pick up enough color.

From what I’ve heard, one of the biggest issues people have with Well Dressed is that it’s either too opaque or simply won’t “show up” on certain skin tones. This is a very, VERY pale pink blush, and is meant primarily to brighten your complexion rather than paint your face. This blush is decidedly sheer but buildable. However, building this shade too much will make it become overly luminous, especially when applied on a finished made-up face. I didn’t really notice this issue on bare skin but on skin with foundation it gets a bit too frosty for my liking.

After a bit of experimenting, I found another perk of Well Dressed can be accessed via blending, as it will add a sheer, subtle glow to both fair and darker skin. To achieve this you would need to put your brightest blush color on the apple of your cheek, then blend upwards with Well Dressed.

If you are one of those people who find that MAC blushes, or blushes in general, seem to oxidize or make your skin look muddy, you should consider Well Dressed, especially if your skin is fair. Though it goes on as a purplish pink in the morning, the blue in this manages to retain its pinkness rather than having it oxidize into peach by the end of the day.